Intolerance
by noobz40
Summary: Reid has been keeping a secret from the team. What happens when he is brutally attacked and his secret is revealed. Will the team be accepting of his situation. SLASH.
1. Chapter 1

The BAU team was just finishing the last of their consults. Surprisingly it was early so they decided to go have a couple of drinks.

"Hey, is anyone up for dinner and a few drinks?" Morgan asks the rest of the team.

"Sure, I don't have anything planned for tomorrow. I could stay out late and get so drunk that I don't remember anything in the morning." jokes Emily.

"You can count me in as well. Will and Henry are in New Orleans visiting family for the weekend." JJ replies.

"As long as dinner is at an Italian restaurant, I'll go. Had a light lunch, so I can go for a big hearty meal." Rossi said, surprising the rest of the team.

"Well since Rossi has agreed to go we will definitely go to an Italian restaurant and a bar afterwards. What about you pretty boy? You up for dinner and drinks." Morgan asked.

"Sorry, I have plans? And if I don't leave now I'm going to be late, but thanks for the offer." responded Reid.

"Come on, a Doctor Who marathon can wait. DVR the show." joked Morgan.

"Ha Ha Morgan. My plans are not with Doctor Who, but I should be done by 11. Why don't you text me if you are still at that the bar and I'll meet up with you guys." Reid said.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Morgan said while wondering what plans Reid could possibly have.

"What sounds good?" Garcia asked walking up behind Morgan.

"Hey, I was just going to come ask you if you wanted to go dinner and a few drinks with us. We're going to go to an Italian restaurant since Rossi agreed to go. Reid is going to meet up with us once he's done with is plans. JJ and Emily are in." Morgan asks Garcia.

"Oh, I am definitely up for a night out. I was already getting myself depressed by my lack of pans. You just made my weekend my Chocolate Adonis." Garcia says with a huge smile on her face.

"I'll go ask Hotch if he wants to come." Emily tells the team walking a towards Hotch's office.

"Well I'm heading out before we are given any more work. Text me your finalized pans," Reid yells while heading to the elevator.

"Do you think he really he's telling the truth about having plans? Or he's just saying that so that we don't feel sorry for him that he was actually going to spend the night alone?" Morgan asked the rest of the team.

"Why do you think he's lying about having plans?" Garcia questions Morgan.

"Well, at first he said he was not going to be able to make it, then he said he should be done with his plans by Eleven. It's a little suspicious." Morgan responds.

"I'm sure if boy genius said he had plans, then he has plans. You know he does not lie to us." said Garcia slightly annoyed.

Garcia knows that Reid really going on a date with his boyfriend Brian. No one other than Garcia knows about him and how madly in love they are with each other. And Garcia is the only one who knows that Brian is going to ask Reid to marry him tonight.

Brian Morris was a detective for the DCPD. She first met him six months ago when she dropped by Reid's apartment to give him a file.

FLASHBACK

_Garcia goes to Reid's apartment on a Friday after work to give him a file for a consult Hotch wants him to conduct on Monday. Reid has been on vacation for the past two weeks. This is his last weekend before he has to return on Monday, so he needs to be prepared. It was a last minute decision, but none of the other profiler's had the same qualifications as Reid._

_Garcia called in advance to make sure he would be home to drop off the file for review. When she arrived at his apartment she was pleasantly surprised._

_When Reid's door opened what she encountered was what she would compare to a vanilla Adonis. While Morgan was her Chocolate Adonis, Brian was the white version of that._

_"Hi, you must be Penelope Garcia. Spencer has told me so much about you. Please come in." he tells Garcia as he opens the door all the way._

"_Um hi. Thanks. Who are you?" Garcia asks cautiously._

_He smiles at her and introduces himself "I'm Brian Morris. I'm Spencer's boyfriend. He stepped out to go to the store for a quick second. He's about to start cooking and he forgot a few things. He said make to yourself at home and that I should entertain you until he gets here. He said you are going to have many, many questions. And by the look on your face I suspect you do."_

_"I didn't know Spencer was seeing someone. For that matter I didn't know Spencer was gay. Why didn't he say anything to us." _

_"Well technically Spencer is not gay. Spencer is blind to gender. He is attracted to who he is attracted to, both sexually and intellectually. It does not matter if the person is male or female. He is pansexual. When he falls for someone, he only has eyes for that person." he told Garcia._

_"How long have you been seeing each other? It can't be that long otherwise he would have told us." Garcia asked Brian._

_"We have been dating for eighteen months and living together for the past six months." Brian responded still smiling at her. _

_He knew she was the one on the team to really be scared of. While there were three alpha males on the team, she was the mother hen of the group. Brian himself was an alpha male, but he never made Spencer feel inferior._

_"Eighteen months. You two have been together for eighteen months and he never said anything. Does he not trust us. Does he think we would think any less of him. We are his family." she said angrily._

_At that moment Spencer was walking into the apartment and heard what she was saying._

_"It's not a matter of trust Penelope. It's a matter of privacy and preservation. Brian can you give us a few minutes." Spencer asks._

_"Sure. I'll be in the bedroom. Let me know when it's safe to come out." he gets up and gives Spencer a kiss and heads to their bedroom._

_"Garcia, I have not told anyone about Brian because I like my privacy. I don't divulge any parts of my life willingly. If asked if I was seeing someone, I would answer honestly, but I don't flaunt what I do on my own time. I don't even flaunt what I do at work. While I consider you all my friends and family there are times that you can be all be a little overbearing. I am not ashamed of my relationship with Brian. I love him very much, but not ready for the teasing and Brian understands that." Spencer said very calmly._

_"What make you think we'll tease you." Garcia asks incredulously._

_Spencer gives her this 'I can't believe you just said that' look._

_Spencer says "Really, so Morgan won't say 'Pretty boy is finally getting some. Who's the lucky lady who popped his cherry'. Garcia, I have been teased and bullied most of my life before I started working at the BAU. I was excited to start working there and be treated as an adult. Yet most of the time I am not treated that way. I know you all love me, but I still get treated as a kid who needs constant supervision and babying."_

_"Reid, we don't mean to treat you that way. You know we love you and would never purposely do or say anything to hurt you. I will admit that I always feel this need to protect you, but again it's because I love you." Garcia said._

_"And I appreciate that, but everyone seems to forget that I am an adult. I have been taking care of myself since I was ten. I realize that I may be sensitive to certain subjects, but who on our team isn't. We all have our baggage from our past, but it seems like you all think I'm going to break if something reminds me of a dark time in my life. Brian already has to deal with me when I come home from an extremely difficult case. He is here to pick up the pieces. I don't need him to pick up the pieces when I get home upset from being teased at work. He is a good man who treats me with love and respect. So please Garcia don't question my reasons for not telling the team. If asked I will be honest, but only if asked. I like my life when I come home to a stress free environment." Reid tells Garcia with a lot of passion._

_"Ok. I'm sorry. I'll be more mindful of your feelings." Garcia said sadly._

_"See now I've hurt your feelings. Forget I said anything. I'm so sorry Penelope. Please don't be sad." Reid begged._

_"Oh honey, I'm not sad. I'm just disappointed. Disappointed in the fact that you have to be hiding a part of your life that makes you happy and you should be allowed to share it without any reservations what so ever." Garcia said._

_"But I don't have to hide from you any more. I can share my feelings and my happiness with you. I went to buy extra groceries hoping you would stay for dinner. Will you stay?" Reid asked Garcia with pleading eyes._

_"I would love to stay. That way I can make sure he is treating you the way you should be treated." Garcia agrees while Reid is giving her the begging eyes not to embarrass him._

_"Don't give me that look. You know I would grill any one of the teams potential mates. It will only be a few harmless questions. I promise." Garcia was telling him with a smirk._

_"I love you so much Ms. Penelope Garcia. You know that right." Reid hugged her with a smile._

_"I know. Who doesn't love me. So what's for dinner?" she happily said. _

END FLASHBACK

Reid and Brian were sitting at a corner booth listening to the soft music and enjoying their conversation.

"So how was your day?" Brian asked Reid.

"Thankfully uneventful enough that I was able to get off at five o'clock and have a wonderful dinner with the man I love and then go home make passionate love to him before he has to head off to work. How was your day?" Reid asked back with a smirk on his face.

"Pretty much the same. I, however, made sure the apartment was clean so that we don't have to worry about straightening up when we get home. I paid particularly close attention to the bedroom, especially the bed where I anticipated getting mad passionate love." He said with a smirk.

"Hmm. You seem pretty sure that I was going to be willing to put out for you tonight. Is there something to this confidence I should know about?" Reid asked.

"There is nothing to it. I just want to show you how much I love. So let's enjoy dinner and the music and then go home so that I can go to work afterwards barely able to walk." laughed Brian.

They ordered their meals and continued talking about work and cases they were working on, but tried to keep those discussions at a minimum because it would dampen the evening. Just as they were half way through their meals Brian's phone rang.

Brian answered. "Morris. Ok, yeah I'll be right there. Text me the location."

"Babe, I am so sorry, but I have to go in now. There was another body just discovered. ME said he must have been dead for at least twelve hours." he continued to tell Reid.

"Love, there is not need to apologize. I of all people completely understand how this works. You are just lucky to have such an understanding partner who will not withhold sex from you because you had to cut short our plans. Is this the same case on the homosexual men being brutally murdered throughout the city. Maybe you should have the BAU called in. We can help." Reid suggested.

"I tried that. I spoke to the captain and told him I suspected DC had a serial killer, but he was adamant that we can handle it and we don't need outside help. We got into a pretty heated argument over the situation. I don't know how I'm going to get through to him." Brian said dejected.

"If you want I can bring it up to my team see if they have any suggestions. Eight men is cause for concern. He can't keep ignoring it because of is ego. He has to realize your department needs help. Not not that I'm saying you guys are not intelligent enough to solve it. I'm sure you will eventually, but it would be better to do it sooner than later before more lives are lost." he said hurriedly so not to offend Brian.

"Babe, I am not a narcissist. I know when we are out of our element. Something is setting this guy off. And if we can figure out what it is, then we can catch the guy. That's what you guys specialize in. Anyway, I have to go to the crime scene and then give a family bad news. What are you going to to do for the rest of the evening since criminals do not understand that ordinary people have lives?" Brian asked Reid.

"Well the team went out for dinner and drinks. I told them I might meet up with them for drinks since you had to be at work at eleven, so I'll call them to see where they are and meet them there. Do you want me to have the waitress pack the rest of your food so you can take it to work tomorrow? No sense in wasting perfectly delicious food." Reid asked Brian.

"Yeah, can you do that for me. I promise I'll make this night up to you. You go and have fun with your friends and I will see you tomorrow. I love you so much." he told Reid. Then he leaned over and gave Reid a deep passionate kiss so that he thinks of him the rest of the night.

"Is it wrong that I wish you get called away more often so that I can get kissed like that." whispered Reid as Brian pulled away.

"Maybe a little, but not about the kissing part. I love you." replied Brian.

"I love you too. And be safe." Reid smiled goodbye.

Three tables down from where they were sitting three men were watching their interaction. They did not look pleased. As soon as Brian walked by they paid their bill and walked out of the restaurant.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Reid called the waitress over "Excuse me, but can I have the rest of this meal packed to go and chocolate cake. Thank you."

"Sure, will there be anything else for you today sir." the waitress asked.

"No, that will be all for the evening. Thank you very much for you service. It was a wonderful meal." Reid told the waitress while pulling out his phone.

As she was walking away he called Morgan. "Hey Morgan. My plans were cut short so I'll be able to meet up with you guys. Can you text me you location."

"Sure Reid. We just finished dinner so we are heading to O'Reilly's on 7th and E Street." Morgan said.

"I know the place. I have to go home first to drop off some food and change. I'll meet you there in an hour." Reid informed Morgan.

"Okay. See you then Pretty Boy." Morgan said hanging up the phone.

"That was Reid. He said his plans were cut short so he'll meet us at O'Reilly's in an hour." Morgan told the team.

"Did he say why his plans were cut short?" Garcia asked somewhat concerned.

"No, just that his plans were cut short. He is going home to change first then meet up with us." replied Morgan.

"Oh, ok. Let me use the little girls room before we leave." Garcia told the team.

As Garcia headed to the women's restroom she dialed Reid's number.

"Hey Garcia, what's up?" Reid asked her when he answered.

"I heard you were going to join us at the bar. What happened to your date with Brian?" Garcia asked.

"He got called in earlier because they found another body. You know criminals have no respect for law enforcement. Always pick the perfect time to commit a crime." he joked.

"Since I did not plan on do anything else for the evening I figured I would just meet up with guys. Brian won't be back until his shift ends tomorrow morning. Also, I was wondering if you can go shopping at the market with me tomorrow for the barbecue I'm throwing on Sunday." He continued to tell her as he waved goodbye to the waitress and walked out the door.

"I would love to go shopping with you. Why are having a barbecue anyway? You don't usually entertain. Not that we don't appreciate free food." Garcia asked.

"I'm going to introduce Brian to the team. I want them to meet the man in my life. It's time don't you think. You have been trying to get me to tell everyone, so I finally decided to do it. And Brian is excited to meet everyone as well." he tells her while standing next to his car looking for his car keys in his satchel.

"That is so great Reid. You wait and see. They are going to love him. I mean what's not to love. Although I will warn you when the girls see him they may try to steal him from you and Morgan may get jealous because he will have competition. Hotch and Rossi will just try to size him up to make sure he is treating you right. But don't you worry, I'll keep them in line." Garcia told Reid smiling.

"I'm not worried Garcia. I know Brian would never stray and only has eyes for me. And knowing his personality he will let Morgan know he has nothing to worry about being the ladies man that he is and he will let Hotch and Rossi put him through the 'what are your intentions test'. He's good like that. I have to tell you about the time I introduced him to Ethan and how that meeting went." Reid laughed.

"Can't wait to hear all about that story. You can tell me all about it tomorrow while we're shopping." she said.

"Great. I'm about to get in my car to go home and change. Suddenly I feel tired." Reid said while he yawned.

"Don't you dare ditch us for your bed doctor. We hardly get to go drinking together as a team." Garcia admonished Reid.

"I would not dare defy you Garcia. I should be at the bar in an hour. I may stop by the police station to drop off Brian's leftover food and dessert since he did not have time to finish his meal. Damn criminals." Reid said.

"Ok. See you later one eight seven." she said hanging up.

Just as he was going to use his key to open his car door one of the men who followed Brian out of the restaurant pushed him against his car and pressed a gun to his ribs.

"Don't make a move and don't scream or I swear I'll shoot you right here." the voice said.

Reid dropped his keys and the bag of food and nodded.

"Now start walking very slowly and don't stop until I tell you." the voice continued to say.

"Look, let me reach for my wallet and you can have all the money I have. I have not seen you face so I can't identify you. You can just walk away okay." Reid said trying to remain calm.

"I don't want your money. Turn into that alley there and don't try to run. I'm a really good shot." the voice warned Reid.

"No." Reid said defiantly while looking around to see if there were any people around. Surprisingly enough the street was deserted. He was trying to mentally recall the robbery rate in this part of town and could not come up with anything. This was a relatively low crime rate area.

"NO. This is not a negotiation. Now move." he said pushing Reid into the alley forcefully.

Reid continued to walk into the alley and asked the man "What is it that you want if you do not want money?"

"I just want to show you what happens when you go against the will of God. Men should only be with women and not men. You people are an abomination." the voice said angrily.

That's when Reid realized this is the same man committing the murders around town. He was about to reach for his gun when he was struck in the head with so much force that he felt pain throughout his entire body. He fell on his stomach, but as he was falling to the ground he saw two more figures coming out of the shadows.

'So it's a pack that's murdering these men'. He thought to himself.

As he tried to turn over to reach for his gun he felt an object hit his back. He was so dazed from the blow to the head he could not scream as more pain shot through his body.

One of his attackers turned him over and told the other two men to stand him  
up. When they stood him up that's when he noticed the metal bat his first attacker was holding.

"So you like men. Well this is what happens to people like you." he said slamming the bat into his ribs.

Reid wheezed and looked up. He saw the man's face and captured it to memory in order to identify him later. He was holding on to hope that he would survive this attack. It seems that none of the other victims lived to identify them. But he was optimistic. Maybe he could figure out a way out of this. He still has not seen the faces of the two men holding him because he is so focused on trying to get his balance while being held.

He tells his attacker "Your God would not seek out punishment in this manner. If you stop now your God will forgive you. Isn't that what he is about, forgiveness?"

"You don't believe in God?" his attacker asked him.

"I am a man of science. I believe in things I can see and feel." Reid said looking the man in the eye.

"Well then maybe you will be a believer when you are dead." he said as he swung the bat to Reid's left leg.

"AAAHHHHH." Reid screamed in excruciating pain and fell to his knees.

"Jake, Sam let us teach him what happens when you don't repent." the first attacker told the other two men.

Apparently the other two attackers also had bats because suddenly he was hit in the back again. He fell forward and landed on his hands. He tried to crawl away, but this time he was struck in the head and fell flat on his stomach. Slowly, as he was losing consciousness he felt another blow to his back, but this time he felt something crack in spine. Five times more he was hit. One hit to the arm, twice to his legs, once to the shoulder and one last time to the head. With this last blow Reid finally lost consciousness.

"Go through his wallet and get his name. We'll add his name to the list." the first attacker instructed Jake and Sam.

As they turned Reid over Jake noticed his gun. "Geez Mike, this guy had a gun."

"Really. Well we'll take that with us. Now get me his name. We need to get out of here before someone spots us." Mike said.

"I found his..." Sam trailed off what he was about to say when he found Reid's credentials.

"Shit Mike, this guy is a fed. We just killed a federal agent. You know how much time we'll do for this." Sam said panicked.

"Sam calm down. We'll only go to prison if we get caught and we are not going to get caught. We'll take the credentials and the gun so they can't identify him to quickly. Does he have any other identification on him?" Mike asked the other two.

"Yeah, I found his wallet in his bag. His name is Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid. He does not have any other ID on him." Jake informed Mike.

"Good, let's get out here. Look around and make sure we did leave anything that can identify us." Mike demanded.

"There's nothing. Let's go. I need a few drinks after this." Jake said after looking around and not seeing anything that would identify them. All three men lifted their hooded sweaters and exited the alley making sure their faces could not be seen leaving Reid lying in his own blood.

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"Hey, Reid hasn't shown up yet. Wasn't he supposed to be here a couple of hours ago?" Prentiss asked when came back to the table from dancing.

"Yeah, he was. Let me call him." Morgan said taking out his phone to dial Reid. He waited for the phone to ring.

"Hey Reid. Where are you? You were supposed be to be here an hour ago. Missing out on a lot of fun. I have some ladies scoped out for you. You better get here soon before some other man snags them." Morgan leaves a message

"Left him a voicemail." he tells Prentiss.

"Really, I would not have guessed." she rolled her eyes at him.

"Sarcasm is not your color Prentiss." he told her with a smile.

"Well, when I spoke with him before we left the restaurant, he told me he was a little tired. Maybe he fell asleep when he got home to change." Garcia informed them.

"You spoke to him before we left the restaurant?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure he was ok." Garcia answered.

"Why wouldn't he be ok?" Morgan was confused.

"No reason. It's just that he had plans. I was curious as to why his plans were cut short, that's all." she said.

"Oh, did he say why?" he asked.

"He said his friend had to go in to work earlier." Garcia replied.

"Well it's his loss if he fell asleep. We should have known he would not come. You know bars and clubs are not his thing." Morgan said.

At that moment JJ and Rossi were returning from the dance floor.

JJ asked "Reid's not here yet?"

"No. We think he fell asleep when he went home to change. Morgan left him a message." Prentiss told her.

"Well as much as I enjoyed this little outing. I am not the hot young stud I used to be, so I wish you all a good night and I'll see you on Monday." Rossi said.

"I hate to say it, but I'm with Rossi. I want to give Will and Henry a call before it's to late. Mind giving me a ride home Rossi?" JJ asked.

"Not at all. I'll bring the car around while you gather your things. Goodnight everyone." Rossi said and made his exit.

"Goodnight guys. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Try to behave yourselves." she said pointing at Morgan and Garcia.

"Night." Prentiss, Morgan and Garcia said in unison.

"Well princess, how about we dance?" Morgan asked Prentiss pulling her to the dance floor before she could respond.

Once they were on the dance floor Garcia pulls out her phone and dials Reid's number. "Hey Reid. Give me a call. You said you were going to be here but you haven't shown up. I'm a little worried. It's not like you to say you are going to do something and not do it. So please call me and let me know you are okay."

Forty five minutes later Prentiss and Morgan return from dancing and they looked worn out.

"Whose ready to get out of here. I hate to admit it but Rossi had the right idea. Don't tell him that though. He'll never let me live it down." joked Morgan.

"I am." Prentiss agreed.

"Yeah, me too. Let me just leave Reid a message that we are heading out." she dialed Reid's number again and left him a message not to bother showing up because they were all leaving, but to call her anyway to make sure he was ok.

"Baby girl, he can't call if he's sleeping. He'll call in the morning and apologize for falling asleep. Let me drop you off at home." Morgan said.

"I know. I'll see him tomorrow either way. We are going shopping for his cook out on Sunday." Garcia said as they were exiting the club. She still could not help but feel that something was terribly wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Brian arrived home at 9:00 AM. He dropped off his bag by the front door and went into the kitchen to put on a fresh cup of coffee. It was a long night. The murdered victim was hardly recognizable. If it was not for his ID, they would have had to wait for dental records or fingerprint results. Marc Anderson was a forty year old sales representative who was on his way home from work. He was found in an alley two blocks from where he lived. Breaking the news to his live in partner was, as usual, one of the hardest things Brian had to do. He would not know what he would do if he was in the same situation. It is not something anyone should have to face in their lifetime.

While he waited for the coffee to brew he walked towards the bedroom to take a quick shower. He opened the door and entered quietly so not to wake Spencer, but when he looked towards the bed, Spencer was not there. He took out his phone to call him. The phone rang several times, then went to voicemail.

"Hey Babe. I just got home and you are not here. Give me a call and let me know where you are. You probably got so wasted last night you stayed at Morgan's place. Talk to you soon. Love you." Brian said.

He looked around the room to make sure nothing was out of place. The bed was definitely not slept in so he knows for sure Spencer did not come home last night. He went to the bathroom to take his shower and wait for Spencer to call back. He had an uneasy feeling in his gut. Just as he was finished with his shower, the doorbell rang.

"Hey there Brian. How are you this morning?" Garcia asked entering the apartment.

"Hi Pen. I'm doing well. Long night, but glad to be home. Can I get you some coffee?" Brian asked Garcia.

"Yeah, I heard that you had to cut short your dinner date. Sorry about that. I know it was going to be a special night for you, but hopefully you will be able to find a new and exciting way to propose. I came by to pick Spencer up some could go shopping for tomorrow. Is he ready?" Garcia asked.

"Spencer is not here. He never came home last night. I thought he might have stayed with one of you guys." Brian looked at her with a curious expression.

"Reid never met up with us last night. We thought he might have fallen asleep when he got home after your dinner. I spoke to him while he was still at the restaurant and he said he was going to go home and change and then meet up at the bar. He never showed up. He told me he was feeling tired, so we figured he fell asleep. But you're saying he never came home. Let me call Morgan to see if he spoke with him last night after he dropped me off." Garcia said extremely concerned. She knew she should have gone with her gut instincts and checked on him last night.

"I'm going to try to phone him again." he said dialing Spencer's number. "Hey Spencer. Pen is here now and she said you never met up with the team last night. I'm a little worried. Please call me back as soon as possible."

Morgan picked up on the second ring. "Hey Baby Girl. How are you doing this fine morning? Hope you don't have a hangover."

"Derek, did you stop by Spencer's apartment last night? I am at his apartment and he has not been here all night. Please tell me you came to tell him about standing us up and then went out for drinks? Please tell me." Garcia said frantically.

"No, I went straight home last night. Are you sure he has not been home? Maybe he went out early to get his morning coffee. You know how he is when it comes to his coffee." Morgan joked.

"No, his bed has not been slept in. I am really concerned. Can you please come over. I'm going to call Emily and JJ to see if they have heard from him." she said.

"Yeah, I'll be there in thirty." Morgan said already picking up his car keys.

"Morgan has not heard from him. He said he went straight home. Can you think of anywhere he would have gone this morning?" she asked Brian.

"The only place he would go to is the coffee shop. Let me go there to see if I find him. You call the rest of your team to see if they have heard from him. I'll be right back." he said and walked out of the apartment.

He walked two blocks to the coffee shop and looked around but did not see Spencer or his car. Not that Spencer usually drove to the coffee shop.

"Hey Amy. How are you today? Have you seen Spencer this morning?" he asked the barista. They frequented the coffee shop on a regular basis, so they were known by everyone who worked there.

"No, I have not seen him. He hasn't come in. I've been here since 7:00 AM and have not left for a break. Is everything all right?" she asked.

"I'm sure it is. I just can't seem to get a hold of him. Your know his addiction to the coffee here, so I thought I would meet up with him. If you see him, let him know I'm looking for him." he said.

"Sure, no problem Brian. See you later." waving goodbye to him.

When he arrived at the apartment he asked Garcia. "Anything? The employees at the coffee shop have not seen him."

"No. I spoke with JJ and Emily and they have not spoken or seen him. Brian I'm really concerned. What if something happened to him." she said extremely agitated.

"I know. I'm concerned as well. But we have to keep a clear head. We are no good if we can't think straight. Beside Morgan, JJ and Emily have you called anyone else?" he asked.

"No, I was about to call Hotch and Rossi. I'm praying one of them have heard from him." she said dialing Rossi's number.

"Hello." Rossi answered.

"Hi sir. Sorry to interrupt you on your day off, but I was calling to see if you have seen or spoken to Reid. He never came to his apartment last night and JJ, Morgan or Prentiss have not heard from him." she said.

"No, I have not heard from him. How do you know he hasn't been home?" he asked.

"I'm at his apartment now and his bed has not been slept in. Brian said when he got home this morning he was not here and never came home. I'm concerned something happened to him." Garcia told him.

"Who's Brian and how does he know Reid never went home?" he asked.

"Brian is his partner. They live together. When he got home this morning he said Reid never came home last night. He went to the coffee shop where Reid gets his coffee from, but they have not seen him. It's not like Reid to not answer calls or return messages." she informed Rossi.

"Ok. I'm going to call Hotch and we'll meet you at his apartment." Rossi said and hung up.

"Rossi is going to get Hotch and then head over here. Can you think of any other place he could have gone?" she questioned Brian.

"No, the coffee shop is the only place he frequents this early on his day off. This is not how I expected to meet your team. At least it won't be awkward tomorrow at the barbecue." he said hopeful that Spencer was going to walk through the door at any minute.

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"Junior, you did not take out the trash yesterday before closing. How many times do I have to tell you the trash has to be taken out every day when we close. We don't need to get critters and have to close down my business because you are lazy." Joshua Stein yelled at his son.

"Alright, I'll take it out now. You don't need to have a heart attack." he said picking up the trash and walking out the back door leading to the alley.

The minute he walked out the door he saw a bloodied Spencer lying on the ground

"Dad. Dad come quick." he yelled.

"Why are you yelling. You really need to learn to use you inside..." he did not finish his sentence. "Oh my god."

Joshua rushed over to check Reid's pulse. "He still has a pulse. Junior, call an ambulance. Tell them where we are and let them know he has a pulse, but his breathing is very shallow. I don't know how much time he has."

As his son went to call for an ambulance Joshua held Reid's hand and told him. "Hang in there guy. Help is on the way."

"Dad, I called the ambulance. What do you think happened to him?" Junior asked his father.

"I don't know son. I just don't understand how someone can do something like this to another person. It's just is not right." Joshua responded sadly as he continued to hold Reid's hand.

In the distance he heard the sirens of the ambulance. "Hey you hear that. That's help coming to take you to the hospital to get you better. You just keep holding on okay. I know you can hear me, so hold on. They are just right down the street." He kept whispering to Reid frantically.

Just then the ambulance arrived. "Sir, please step aside so we can tend to this man." the EMT politely told Joshua.

"Of course. Sorry sir." he said.

As the first EMT checked for Reid's pulse he said. "Blood pressure is low. So is his heart rate. We need to intubate. Looks like several blows to the head. Blood is coming mostly from that area. No ID on him. We'll have the police officer get fingerprints from him once we get to the hospital. Let's get him on the gurney and into the ambulance."

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Morgan rang the bell and waited for someone to answer Reid's door. He was starting to panic. He had spoken with Hotch on his way to Reid's apartment. Hotch told him he had not spoken or seen Reid since they got off work the day before. It's true, Reid was not irresponsible. He knew if they were worried, he would call them immediately

"Morgan, thank goodness you are here. I'm so worried. We still haven't heard from him. He was not at the coffee shop and Brian went to the library to see if he was there. No one has seen him." Garcia was frantic.

"Baby girl, calm down. We'll find him. Who's Brian?" Morgan asked Garcia.

"I'm Brain." he said walking out of the kitchen holding out his hand. "Brian Morris. Nice to meet you. I have heard a lot about you from Spencer."

"Okay, but that does not really answer my question. Who are you and why are you here?" Morgan asked again.

"Derek, this is Brain, Spencer's boyfriend. He lives here with Spencer." Garcia said quickly.

"Boyfriend. What do you mean boyfriend. Reid is gay?" he asked with a confused look on his face. Just as he asked the question to door bell rang again. Garcia ran to answer it leaving Brian and Morgan alone.

Morgan was about to speak when JJ and Emily walked in and slowed their step when they saw Brian. JJ was the first to speak cautiously "Hi, I'm Special Agent Jennifer Jareau and this is Special Agent Emily Prentiss. Who are you?"

"Apparently this is Reid's boyfriend." Morgan said with suspicion.

"What." both Emily and JJ gasped at the same time.

Emily said. "He never told us he was seeing someone. How long have you been together?"

"Almost two years. We moved in together after dating for one year." Brian responded calmly.

"You've been living together all this time and he never told us. How could that be?" she said surprised.

"That does not matter at this time. What matters is that we don't know where Reid is and no one has heard from him. I'm waiting on Hotch and Rossi before I head to the BAU to put a trace on his phone. So just drop how surprised you are that Spencer has a boyfriend and didn't tell you and focus." she said with such force that they were scared. "Besides I know Brian and he is a good man."

He smiled at her and gave her a silent 'thank you'.

Just then the door bell rang again. "That must be Hotch and Rossi. We are going to discuss our plan of action on locating Reid. I hope I have made myself clear?" she glared at them.

"Yes." they all said.

She went to answer the door and returned with Rossi and Hotch. "Hotch, Rossi, this is Reid's boyfriend Detective Brian Morris with the DCPD. Brian SSA Aaron Hotchner and SSA David Rossi. Now that introductions have been made what are we going to do to find Reid." she said frustrated.

"Who was the last person to see Reid?" Hotch asked without questioning Garcia.

"That was probably me Agent Hotchner. We had dinner last night, but I had to leave early because I was called in to work due to another homicide." Brian said.

"What time was that?" Hotch asked.

"Our reservations were for 7:00 PM at Grimwalds. I left at around 8:15 PM. He stayed behind to have our leftovers packed, then he said he was going to meet up with his team for a few drinks." he said sadly.

"Yeah, that's around the time he called me to find out where we were meeting for drinks. The call lasted a couple minutes." Morgan told Hotch.

"And I phoned him at exactly 8:38. I wanted to make sure he was okay. He told me he was going to go home to drop off the food and change and that he would probably stop by Brian's job to drop off the leftover food since he was not able to finish his meal." Garcia interjected.

"Did he stop by your job Mr. Morris?" Hotch asked.

"Please call me Brian. I was out at the crime scene and notifying family member most of the night. I did not arrive at the station until a little after 4:00 AM so I would not really know if he stopped by. I'll call the station to see if dropped off the food." Brian said taking out his phone to call the station. He went into the kitchen to ask, leaving the team to discuss Reid's timeline of events.

When he returned he told the team. "There was no food left for me at the station, but it could be that he did not leave it if I was not there. Once we're done I'll go to the station a view the cameras. If he was there, then we would know what time he arrived at the station."

"Garcia, Emily and I left the bar at around one in the morning. Garcia left him a message soon after that to let him know not go show up since we were leaving." Morgan said.

"So we don't know his whereabouts from 8:45 last night until now. Okay, Morgan and Prentiss, go to the restaurant where Reid and Brian had dinner. JJ, you and Rossi stay here and ask the neighbors if they have seen or heard from Reid. Brian you said you went to that coffee shop and the library he frequents and they have to not seen him. Is there anywhere else that he goes on a regular basis?" Hotch asked.

"Those are the two places that he goes to the most. I asked the employee's to please contact me if they happen to see him. The only other places he may be at are the grocery store's to shop for the barbecue we are throwing tomorrow. There are several of those because he is very particular about where he gets certain foods. But, the thing is if he did go shopping he would not ignore or not return calls. That's just not him." Brian was pacing.

Hotch asked "You are right Brian. Would your security be able to be accessed from the BAU?"

"Yes, as long as we allow remote access." he responded.

"Good, you are coming with us to the BAU. We'll view the footage from there and run a trace on his phone. We'll also check the traffic camera's around the restaurant to see if  
we could trace his steps." Hotch informed the team and they headed out.

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"Okay Mr. Stein, can you tell me again what you saw in the alley when you found the victim." Officer Al Smith asked Joshua Stein.

"I didn't see anything. I was in the kitchen when I heard my son yell my name. He went to the alley to take out the trash he was so supposed take out the day before. When I went outside there he was lying in a pool of blood mostly around his head. That's when I told my son to call the ambulance." Mr. Stein told the officer.

"What about last night. Didn't you hear anything?" Officer Bruce Cummings continued with the questions.

"We only open for lunch. We close at 4:30 and don't return until seven the next morning. I have a part time job as a janitor at a high school and have to be there by 6:30 PM." Mr. Stein sighed.

"Where is your son now Mr. Stein?" Cummings asked.

"He stayed at the shop letting our customers know we will not be open today. If you need to speak to him, you can go to the shop and ask him whatever questions you need answered. He is a little shaken up by seeing that man in the condition he was in. Real life does not compare to what you see on TV." Joshua Stein told the officers.

"Thank you. We may do that. Did you come here in the ambulance with the victim?" Officer Smith asked Mr. Stein.

"Yes. It did not feel right leaving that young man alone. No one should have to be alone under these circumstances. I would like to stay until his family is notified. That way he won't be left alone. Would that be alright with you or is it inappropriate?" he asked with a pleading look.

"No Mr. Stein, it is not inappropriate. As of now we do not know who he is. He did not have any identification on him. Whoever did this most likely stole it. But it's very nice that you want to make sure he is okay." Cummings responded.

As they were walking to the nurses station to check on Reid's condition, they spotted Stan Wolsky. Wolsky is Brian's partner.

"Hey Wolsky. What are you doing here." Smith asked.

"Hi Smith, hi Cummings. I came to visit a friend who just had a baby. What brings you around here?" he asked in return.

"Victim was found in an alley behind Stein's. Looks like a possible mugging gone extremely bad. It doesn't look like he's going to make it. He was really bad off and unresponsive. They are looking him over now." He points towards the room they had Reid in.

They walk over and all three look in room through the window. "Oh my God. I know who that is." he exclaimed.

"Yeah, who is he?" Cummings asked.

"That's Dr. Spencer Reid. He works for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. That's Brian's friends." he said pulling out his phone. No one but Stan in the police department new Brian was gay and living with his boyfriend.

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Hotch and Brian were gathered in Garcia's office. Brian was on the phone with the police department getting remote access to view the security feed to the station while Garcia was running a trace on Reid's phone.

"I can't track his phone Hotch. It must not be on." Garcia said.

"Tap into the traffic cams in the area around the restaurant." Hotch's stoic face looked concerned.

"I have remote access. I'll fast forward to 8:30." Brian said secretly praying that he would see Spencer in the footage. Although, it still would not answer the question of where Reid was.

They fast forwarded through four hours of footage and did not see Reid.

"Dammit there's nothing here. He didn't go to the police station." Brian rubbed his face.

Garcia, who was watching the traffic cams around the restaurant said. "Here is Reid leaving the restaurant at 8:41 PM. He's talking on the phone with me. He walks to the right and then disappears. This must be a blind spot that the camera's don't cover."

"Yeah, that's pretty much where Spencer's car was parked. I saw it when I left the restaurant. Remind me when we find him to put a GPS tracker in his car. And maybe on him as well." Brian tried to joke but failed. The concern evident in his voice.

"Trust me, we have all discussed putting a chip in him from time to time." Hotch smiled, but also looked sad.

"All the other camera's don't pick him up. Let's see if Morgan and Prentiss find something at he restaurant." Garcia said.

Just then Brian's phone rings. "Hey Stan, how are Angela and the baby doing? Did she have a boy or a girl?" he asked not really caring at the moment.

"Brian, listen, you need to get to Saint Sebastian Hospital now. They have Spencer here." he said frantically.

"What! What happened to him? Is he okay? Can I speak to him Stan?" Brian was panicked.

"I think you should get down here." Stan did not want to say no more over the phone.

"Dammit Stan, how bad is he?" Brian yelled over the phone.

"Brian, they are working on him, but it does not look good. Shit." Stan gasped.

"What is it Stan? Tell me." Brian was frantically telling Stan already walking out of Garcia's office with Hotch and Garcia right behind him.

"He's crashing."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As Brian, Hotch and Garcia rushed to the hospital in Hotch's SUV, Garcia dialed Morgan's phone.

"Baby Girl. We are the restaurant now and Reid's car is still here." Morgan started to say when he heard Hotch tell her to put them on speaker.

Morgan continued saying. "His car is still here. We found the bag with the leftovers and his car keys. So he must have disappeared from here. We are..."

Hotch interrupted him "Morgan, Reid is at Saint Sebastian Hospital. Brian got a call from his partner who was at the hospital and saw him. We're heading there now."

"What! Okay, we'll head that way now." Morgan said.

"No, Morgan stay there and speak to the employees of the restaurant. See if they saw what may have happened." Hotch instructed.

"Did Brian's partner say how Reid was doing?" Morgan asked.

"Stan said he was not doing good and was crashing, but they were able to stabilize him and were taking him in to surgery." Brian spoke up.

"Then we're not staying here Hotch. We need to be at the hospital." Morgan's tone was final.

Hotch knew he would not be able to convince Morgan or Prentiss otherwise. He knew if he was in the same position, he would definitely disobey orders and go to the hospital. "Okay, but call CSU to process the car, the bag and keys and anything else that may help us figure out what happened. Morgan, wait until CSU gets there before you head to the hospital. We don't want anyone disrupting or contaminating possible evidence."

"Sure Hotch. Please call me when you get to the hospital and let me know his status." Morgan told Hotch.

"Will do." Hotch said hanging up.

"Garcia text Rossi and JJ and tell them to head to the hospital. Let them know which hospital, but don't tell them anything else." Hotch instructed Garcia.

"Yes sir, but why don't you want them to know? Shouldn't they know what's going on?" Garcia asked why she was texting.

Brian was the one to answer. "It's best not to scare them. Specially since we don't know how serious his condition is. We know how close JJ is to him. She may not handle it very well if she found out over the phone that he was crashing. This is something to handle in person."

She just nodded in understanding.

"How are you holding up?" Hotch asked looking towards Brian.

"I'm not sure. I just don't understand what could have happened. How bad is he if was coding and they had to revive him." he said in a meek voice, then looks at Hotch and says. "I can't lose him."

"Reid is a fighter. He'll pull through this." Hotch said silently hoping he was not giving Brian and Garcia false hope.

When they arrived at the hospital they went straight to the Emergency Room where they spotted Stan Wolsky, Brian's partner.

"Stan, how is Spencer. What happened?" Brian was agitated.

"All I know is that he was attacked and was found in an alley." Wolsky advised Brian before he noticed Hotch and Garcia.

"Where was the alley located?" Hotch asked Wolsky.

"Stan this is Special Agent Aaron Hotchner and Penelope Garcia. They work with Spencer." Brian introduced them.

"Ah. He was found in an alley behind Stein's. It seems he took several blows to the head and back, but that's all I was able to overhear from the doctor's when they were stabilizing him. They took him up to surgery. Haven't heard his condition yet. Al Smith and Bruce Cummings were called in to handle the case." he was telling them. Just then Cummings and Smith walked over to the group.

"Hey Morris, I heard you know the victim." Cummings said.

"He is not a victim. He is sweet Dr. Spencer Reid who would not hurt anyone. Did you catch who did this to him?" Garcia practically yelled at them.

They were taken aback by her outburst.

"Calm down Garcia. I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid's supervisor. This is Penelope Garcia, she also works with Dr. Reid. What can you tell us?" Hotch was asking just as JJ and Rossi walked up to them.

"We don't have much. All we know is that he was found early this morning in the alley behind Stein's. Mr. Stein's son.." he turned around and pointed to Mr. Stein. "found the vic..Dr. Reid. They called an ambulance and here we are."

Hotch nodded towards JJ and she walked away to go talk to Mr. Stein.

"Stein's is just a few doors down from the restaurant." Brian told Hotch.

"Morgan and Prentiss are still at the restaurant waiting for CSU. Rossi call them." Hotch instructed.

"Morris, the condition he was found in is very similar to the murders you are investigating. He was found in an alley and practically bludgeoned to death. The only difference is that Dr. Reid survived." Smith told Brian.

Garcia winced at that description and Hotch gave him a 'watch how you say things' look.

"What investigation are you working on?" Hotch asked.

"Nine homosexual men have been found murdered throughout the city. All were found in an alley severely beaten. Coroners reported they were beaten to death with a baseball bat. Most of the trauma was to the head and back. When we went to look at Dr. Reid's injuries it looked like the same M.O. We were going to discuss with the Captain to have his case transferred to Morris since there is a survivor now. He may be able to identify his attacker." Smith informed the group.

Just then JJ returned from speaking to Mr. Klein. "He did not see anything. They close their shop at 4:30 PM and open up again for the lunch crowd."

"Did he find any ID on him?" Hotch asked JJ.

"No. He said he checked, but didn't find any." she replied.

"It's possible that's why he's still alive. His attacker probably found out he was an agent, got spooked and ran before he finished the job. Reid may have seen his attacker." Hotch was thinking out loud.

"We are going to head back to the station to speak with the Captain. Morris, I'm really sorry about your friend. I hope he makes it through this. We'll let you know what the Captain says. We'll also try to reiterate your prior request to call in the FBI. But knowing there is a survivor would probably be reason enough for him not to call you guys in." Cummings said pointing at Hotch.

"Why wouldn't he want to call us in because there is a survivor?" Garcia was surprised.

"Because if he has a political agenda, it would look better on his resume the number of crimes that were solved on his watch. And solving a case involving a serial killer would definitely grant him points." Rossi said with disgust.

"Yeah, well, we'll try to get you called in on the case, but no guarantee." Smith said.

"Appreciate it." Hotch shook their hands and they exited.

Brian was just standing there, in somewhat of a daze. He was tying to comprehend what was happening. Just last night he was having dinner with the man he loves. The man he dreamed of spending the rest of his life with. The man he was going to propose to in hopes of that dream coming true. He was detective with the DCPD. He should be able to handle this situation better, but he could not focus. Now he understand what all those families felt when they were given tragic news about a loved ones death and how they seemed to be unable to understand how something like this could be happening to them. He was so lost in thought that he did not here Hotch talking to him.

"Brian, are you listening?" Hotch asked.

"I'm sorry. I was..well I don't know where I was. What were you saying?" he as asked in return.

"I was saying I just spoke to the nurse and she does not know when Spencer will be out of surgery, so we'll have to wait. She said there seemed to be quite a bit of damage, but they won't know the extent of it until they start preparing to operate. I also spoke with Morgan and Prentiss. They are on the way back. They spoke with Mr. Klein's son and he said the same thing father said. He was found in the alley with no identification.

They did not find anything at the crime scene other than Reid's blood." Hotch informed him.

"No, these guys don't leave any type of evidence. That's why we are having such a hard time catching these bastards. Funny thing is Spencer and I were just talking about it last night at dinner. He was going to ask your team for a recommendation on how to get the BAU involved. And here you are somehow involved in the case. Funny how things work out, huh?" he says trailing off.

"Why don't I get us some coffee while we wait. We are going to be here a while." Rossi volunteered.

"That will be great Dave. Is there anything else you would like Dave to get you Brian?" Hotch asked him.

"Um, no thank you. Coffee is fine." he replied.

"When was the last time you ate? You know you have to keep your strength up for when Reid gets out of surgery." Rossi asked.

"Oh, last I ate was at dinner with Spencer last night. I completely forgot that I have not had anything to eat since last night. I was so focused on the investigation that I lost track of time and now with everything that happened with Spencer I forgot." he said somberly.

"Wow, you and Spence are made for each other. He does the same thing. We constantly have to remind him to eat when we are away on cases." JJ smiled.

He gives her a shy smile in return.

"No problem. JJ, Garcia, let's go down the street to the deli and pick up some sandwiches and drinks. Be back soon." Rossi said and walked away with JJ and Garcia, leaving Hotch alone with Brian and Stan Wolsky.

"Brian, why don't you sit down. You look like you are about to pass out." Wolsky tells his partner.

"I don't want to sit down Stan. I need to know how Spencer is doing and that he's going to be all right. And I also need to find who did this. I will probably lose my job, because he will not live to see a prison cell." he was angry.

"Brian, do not think about doing anything rash. You are still an officer of the law, therefore, you must abide by the law. I know it's hard to think objectively when it's a loved one involved, but taking matters into your own hands is not going to help Spencer. And you know Reid is not about revenge." Hotch said sternly.

"He's right Brian. Think about Spencer. In all the times I have spoken to that kid, he has always been pro justice and would want the system to hand out a proper punishment, specially if he knows that you threw away your career over him. He would never forgive himself." Wolsky agreed with Hotch.

"Yeah, I know, but it does not hurt to think it. I'm sure if you were in the same situation, you would be thinking the same." he said.

Hotch only nodded thinking back to when Foyet killed his wife. At that moment all he could think about was how much he wanted to kill him and he did, however, the kill was justified. It still did not change that fact that he understood completely how Brian felt. He himself was not sure what he would do when he came in contact with Reid's attacker. All he knew is that he had to heed is own warning.

"Brian, when I spoke to the nurse, she said I am still his emergency contact. Why is that if you two are living together?" Hotch was curious.

"Oh. There are two reasons for that. The first is that he felt it would be best if you maintained power of attorney and emergency medical contact in the event something happens to him in the field. He said you could always read him and know what he is thinking and know exactly what he needs. You know, he has a level of respect for you that he didn't even have for Jason Gideon. He trusts you completely and is sure you would make the best decisions for him if the time came. The second is that he was going to add me as his emergency contact on Monday, after he told you guys about me at the barbecue tomorrow. That way we could both make decisions on his behalf. You know Spencer, always thinking logically." Brian answered his question.

Hotch was slightly taken aback by what Brian said Reid thought of him and he felt his resolve starting to crack, but just then Morgan and Emily walked in.

"Any news on how he's doing?" Morgan asked.

"Nothing yet. He's been in surgery for an hour. We did not see him before he was taken to the OR so we don't know how bad he looked, but detective Wolsky said he did not look good." Hotch said pointing to Wolsky.

"Detective Wolsky, Brian's partner. Nice to meet you. Although, I wish we would have met tomorrow as planned." Wolsky shakes hands with Morgan and Prentiss.

"SSA Emily Prentiss and this is SSA Derek Morgan. Pleasure to meet you." Prentiss said.

"Same here. I've heard a few things about you guys. All good I assure you." Wolsky smiled.

"Yeah, well, we can't say the same about you." Morgan said rather harshly.

"Morgan" Hotch admonished "Can I have a word with you." He grabs Morgan and walks away.

"Sorry about that. He does not handle surprises very well, specially when it comes to Reid. We were just a little surprised to find out he was in a relationship and we did not know. Though apparently Garcia knew. I've learned that Reid always has a reason for his decisions." Emily said slightly embarrassed.

"It's no big deal. Spencer told us this would probably happen. He prepared us as best he could." Brian smiled.

"Morgan, get it together. Your attitude is not going to help the situation." Hotch reprimanded Morgan.

"Hotch, man, how can you be okay with this guy? You hardly know him. We don't know if he's treating Reid right. How did they even meet anyway. I mean look at him. He looks like he would take advantage of him." Morgan was still angry.

"What's the problem Morgan. Do you think very little of Reid that you don't think he is capable of being loved by anyone, much less an alpha male such as Detective Morris. Do you expect him to be alone for the rest of his life so he can live up to this perception you have of him. You should know Reid well enough to know that he would not enter into a relationship with someone, much less live with them if he was not going to be treated with the respect he deserves. Now I will tell you again GET IT TOGETHER or I will not allow you to work the case when we are invited by the DCPD." Hotch said furiously.

"Hotch that is not what I meant. I just don't understand why he did not tell us, unless he did not trust us or he was ashamed about something in their relationship." Morgan said.

"Maybe this is the reason he did not say anything. He was afraid that because he may not have had much experience in the past we would think he was not capable of making decisions concerning matters of the heart. We don't know Reid's past in terms of relationships, therefore, we should not judge. Right now we need to make sure Reid is going to make it through surgery and figure out how we are going to catch whoever did this to him. So get over your issues right now Morgan." Hotch said with that final word and walked away leaving Morgan to think about how he has been handling the situation.

Rossi, JJ and Garcia returned with sandwiches and drinks, when a nurse informed them they could use the private waiting area while waiting for news on Reid.

While they settled down to eat and wait on news of Reid's condition Prentiss asked. "So Brian, how did you meet Reid?"

"Yeah Brian, you never did tell me how you met Spence." Wolsky added with a smile.

"That's because it's none of your business Stan. But since everyone is curious and I know how Spencer will just be embarrassed by his actions, I'll tell you how we met and started dating." Brian said with a huge smile on his face.

"Ooh, You guys are going to love this story." Garcia squeaked.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"The first time I met Spencer was when he walked into the police station to report he was mugged. I was the detective on call that evening. It was around two in the morning when he walked in. My first instinct when he told me his story was 'yeah, this guy is ripe for a mugging.' I mean let's face it, muggers usually go after people who look less threatening and Spencer deceptively fits the part. That and it was two in the morning." he started telling the team and his partner the story.

"After he told me where he was mugged, I asked him to give me the names of all credit cards he owned so that we could try to track any activity from the time of the attack to the time he canceled them. He actually went into detail on everything he had in his wallet, even down to a condom with the expiration date. All I could do was stare at him with my mouth open." he continued.

"I remember you telling me about him. You never told me Spencer was that guy. I thought you said he was creepy." Wolsky said.

"Creepy how?" Morgan asked giving him a hard glare.

"He said that Spencer would just stare at him, never blinking while he gave him all the credit card numbers. I mean, who knows every single credit card number in their wallet. Most of us have to look at the card before we order something on-line. For a minute there he thought he was a criminal himself." Wolsky laughed.

"Well, that was before I told him to make sure I had all his contact information in case we got any leads. When he hands me his business card, I was surprised for the second time that night. He certainly did not look like an FBI agent. He actually smirked at me when I was speechless." Brian said smiling as he thought back to that day.

He continued with his story. "He kept coming back to the police station every two days to see if there was any progress on his case and every time I had to tell him there was nothing new. Finally, after two weeks of him showing up at my desk, I had to tell him that chances of us finding who mugged him was close to zero since he was not able to identify his mugger. I promised him that I would contact him if anything changed and he just stared at me. He then asked me if they didn't know about me. When I asked him what he was talking about, he looked around and said 'that you are gay'. Of course, I automatically went on the defensive and denied that I was gay. His gaze was so intense. Then he asked me out."

"So that's when you started dating?" JJ asked

"No. I turned him down. He smirked at me again. That was the second time he smirked at me. Then he told me I had all his numbers, call him when I was ready to go out on a date and he walked away. I was left sitting there confused and asking myself what had just happened. When I finally gained my composure I thought to myself there was no way in hell I would ever go out with him." he said.

"So what happened? Did he come back to ask you out again?" Emily asked.

"No. Here's the thing. For two days I was furious at the nerve he had, first, in assuming I was gay, and second, that I would go out with him. By the third day I was curious and quite honestly intrigued? I mean, I did find him attractive, but I also thought back to when I first met him and how he was able to describe everything in detail. What kind of person could do that. Must be someone special if he was employed by the FBI. I could not pass up the opportunity to find out a little more about him. So I called him up and asked him out." he chuckled.

"Who would have thought Pretty Boy had it in him to act cocky." Morgan actually laughed.

"So we went on our first date the following Saturday. We talked about a lot of things. That's when I learned how intelligent he was and all his accomplishments. I was blown away by his mind. I would ask him questions to test his knowledge. Not only would he answer the question, but he would give me the history on the subject. I made a joke telling him that our date would not change the outcome of the investigation. He told me and I quote 'Brian, I work for the FBI's most elite group. I could have run my own credit cards if I wanted to. I know the probability of catching my mugger. I just needed an excuse to come see you. When you promised me you would call me if there was any change, I knew you were pretty much dismissing me so I decided to make my move to get you interested'. All I could do was laugh. He was pretty much letting me feed into my ego. Once the date was over I took him home and my intent was to play the I had a nice time and I'll call you card, but I ended up asking him for a second date on the steps of his apartment building." he said as he continued to reminisce.

The team was listening intently to his story. Not one of them, including Wolsky, did not have a smile of their face.

"He agreed to a second date, gave me a kiss goodnight on the cheek, said he had a good time and went into his building. As I was driving home, I could not get him out of my mind and was already anxious about the next date. By the time we had our third date, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I kept telling myself I can't believe I'm falling for this geeky, awkward guy who sprouts off facts and statistics when he is nervous. He doesn't even try to be adorable, he just is." he said.

"You realize he was probably profiling you in those two weeks he kept going to the police station." Rossi said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I figured that. Spencer does not make rash decisions. He researches and studies everything so intently that to anyone outside of his circle it can be very tiring. But I'm glad he did. Our relationship would not be where it is if he didn't. We dated for a year before we moved in together. He was finally going to introduce me to you guys tomorrow at the barbecue." he said suddenly feeling very tired. He got up to get more coffee.

"So how did Garcia find out about you?" JJ asked.

Garcia chimed in. "I went to drop off a file for a consult that Hotch wanted him to do on a Monday. The consult was on the Monday after his vacation was over. So, when I went to his apartment Reid was not at home, but Brian opened the door. Well you can imagine how shocked I was that Reid was in a relationship to begin with, but also that he kept it a secret for so long. I'm embarrassed to say that my shock turned into anger. And I still can't apologize enough for my anger at the moment."

"I told you Penelope I was not angry to begin with. Perhaps a little upset that Spencer was upset, but the evening turned out great. You got to know me enough to form an opinion. I figured if you did not like me after we had dinner that night, I would just work extra hard, because I know how important you are to Spencer. How important you all are to Spencer for that matter. With some of you I may just have to work harder to prove to you that I love Spencer very much and I would never, ever do anything to hurt him." he said looking straight at Morgan.

They all fell silent before Brian spoke up again "If you will excuse me, I need a little air. Please come get me if the doctor comes out with news of Spencer's condition."

"I'll make sure the doctor does not give us any news on how he is doing without you present, but try not to take to long. See you back here in a few." Hotch said.

After Brian walked out Wolsky spoke up. "Brian is a good man. He has a good heart and there is nothing he would not do for that man. I hope when Spencer gets through this, you will all give him a chance. You know before he met Spencer you could tell there was something missing in his life, but after they started dating he was just happy. It's sickening how happy he is sometimes. I will admit I was shocked when Brian came out, but I thank Spencer every chance I get for the positive change in him."

"We believe you. Spencer is very guarded with who he let's into his life. And if he and Brian have lasted this long, then I'm sure we have nothing to worry about." Rossi responded for the rest of the team.

"Okay, I just wanted to point that out." he said looking at Morgan.

Morgan got up and excused himself.

"Morgan." Hotch called out to him giving him a don't do anything stupid look.

Wolsky looked concerned as he watched Morgan exit the room.

"Don't worry. If I know Morgan, he's going out to apologize to for his behavior. He knows when he's being to over protective and unreasonable. For some reason Reid has that affect on all of us." Prentiss said.

"Yeah, don't worry. My chocolate Adonis is nothing but a big teddy bear when you get to know him." Garcia said.

Morgan walked outside and spotted Brian "Hey." he said.

It took a few seconds before Brian acknowledged Morgan. When finally he spoke he said sadly. "I was going to ask Spencer to marry me yesterday before I was called in. I had it all planned. We would have dinner and then take a brief walk in the park. That's where I was going to propose. And now he's on a table in an operating room and we don't know if he's going to make. All because people are ignorant. It's so senseless."

"Spencer's odds are always with him. I'm sure he has told stories of all the times he has gotten himself in a situation that we didn't even think he would make it out of. He'll make it." Morgan said.

After a few minutes of silence Morgan spoke up again. "Listen, I want to apologize for my behavior. I've judged you without giving you an opportunity and that is not fair. I just hope you understand that Reid is my best friend and I would do anything to make sure he is not hurt, both physically and emotionally, so don't mess this up with him or you will have to answer to me. Now let's get back inside. Hopefully the doctor will be out soon with some good news."

"Okay. I accept your apology and I understand completely, but that warning goes both ways. He was already scared that you were going to be disappointed in him for his choice. He doesn't need the added stress on top of what he went through last night. I will not allow you to be a part of that stress. So, I think we both understand each other." Brian said holding out his hand.

It took a moment for Morgan to accept it, but he did.

As they made their way back to the waiting room, they gave each other one last nod in understanding before they entered the room. When they entered to room, they noticed Will LaMontagne.

"Hey Will." Morgan said.

"Hey Morgan. How you doing?" he asked in his New Orleans drawl.

Morgan just shrugged.

Then he looks at Brian and said. "Well Morris, I never would have guessed you would have been the one to finally get Spencer out of his shell, but you got yourself a good man there. Don't mess up. He's my sons godfather."

"Second time in less than ten minutes I have been warned. I know I have a good man, but I was not the one to get Spencer out of his shell, it was him who got me out of mine. JJ can tell you the whole story." He said laughing.

Morgan just smiled.

Just then the doctor walked in. "Family for Spencer Reid."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Family of Spencer Reid." the doctor called out.

"I'm Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, Spencer's emergency medical contact. This is his partner Brian Morris, and these are his colleagues. Whatever you have to say can be said to everyone." Hotch told the doctor.

Brian gave him a silent 'thank you'.

The doctor had a skeptical look, but agreed when he saw the no nonsense look on Hotch's face. "I'm Dr. Jackson. I performed the surgery on Mr. Reid."

"Dr. Reid." Hotch corrected.

"Yes, of course. If you will, please sit down and I'll tell you how Dr. Reid is doing. Dr. Reid came in with injuries to the ribs, knee, spine, and head caused by a metal object. We were able to recover small metal fragments from some of the wounds. Based on the some of the bruising he has, it looks like it was caused by a metal bat. I'll start with the less severe injuries. He has three cracked ribs and swelling to his left knee. With time those injuries should heal properly. Now for the mor severe injuries. He has suffered from a Lumbar Dislocation without a fracture. We currently put a brace on him to limit movement to ensure proper healing. A Lumbar Dislocation without fracture can lead to a positive recovery with Physical Therapy."

"So, he's going to be okay?" Garcia was hopeful.

"Well, as I said a Lumbar Dislocation without fracture can lead to a positive outcome as long as there is no neurological complication. That brings me to his head injury. Dr. Reid has suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI for short. He had severe bleeding in the brain. We were able to stop the bleeding, but he still has inflammation in the brain. We have him on anti-inflammatory medicine and an antibiotic for infection. I am sorry to say, due to the extent of his injuries, primarily due to the TBI, Dr. Reid has fallen into coma. We will monitor him closely, but we won't know if he has suffered any brain damage until he wakes up."

"If Dr. Reid wakes up..." Dr. Jackson continued to say.

"When." They all interrupted in unison.

He smiles sadly. "My apologies, because we are dealing with neurological complications coupled with a spinal injury, there is a possibility that he may be paralyzed. We cannot say for sure until he wakes up."

They all gasped.

"What other complications will he have when he wakes up?" Hotch asked to not to show how this new is affecting him.

"He may suffer from vision and speech problems. He may experience confusion, and problems with concentrating and processing. There is also a possibility that he may suffer from seizures. We can discuss treatment options for him once he wakes and we know the extent of his injuries. I am very sorry I was not able to provide you with more positive news. He's going to be moved to a private room in the ICU. As soon as he's moved, I will have a nurse inform you so that you can visit. I will warn you, because of the bleeding to the brain, although it is under control, we had to put him on a ventilator to ensure he's receiving enough oxygen to the brain. We'll remove the ventilator in two or three days depending on his progress. Do you have any questions?" Dr. Jackson asked before standing up to get ready to leave.

"Will it be possible to have some of the metal fragments sent to the Lab at Quantico for analyzing?" Hotch asked Dr. Jackson.

"Of course. We'll have it sent over right away. Any other question?" he asked.

"Not at the moment Dr. Jackson. Thank you." Hotch stood up to shake the doctor's hand.

"Okay. I have other patients to see, but if you do have any concerns please have the nurse contact me." he started walking towards the door.

"Wait." Brian calls to Dr. Jackson and asks. "Do you know how long he's going to be in a coma?"

"Unfortunately, no. His body is weak. He needs all the rest he can get in order to heal. When he wakes up he is going to be in a lot of pain." Dr. Jackson informed the group.

At the mention of pain they all became concerned on what sort of pain management they had Reid on. The doctor saw the panicked looks on their faces and said. "I read Dr. Reid's file and his wishes on being treated with non-narcotics, but because of the extent of his injuries it is necessary to have him on a narcotic. We have him on the lowest dose possible. When he wakes up and he's able to inform us on the level of pain he's in we'll be able to switch him to an NSAID."

"Thanks you again Dr. Jackson. We don't have any more questions at the moment." Hotch said.

"Of course. I'll leave you now." he said and walked out of the waiting room.

They all sat in stunned silence, unable to really process the news they just received.

"This can't be happening. Why did this have to happen to Reid. I just don't understand." Garcia was practically in tears.

"Kitten, no matter how much we study the mind of the criminal, no matter now many we capture and put away we will never understand the why." Rossi said putting his arm around her shoulder for comfort.

"What are we going to tell Henry? He's going to wonder why his Uncle Spen isn't going to pick him up on Sunday for their play date." JJ questioned with tears in her eyes.

"We won't tell him anything. We'll just tell him he's not feeling well and has to stay home until he's better." Will said.

"Brian, have you heard from Detective Smith or Cummings? It would be easier to look into who attacked Spencer if we're invited in." Hotch asked.

"No, they haven't sent me a text. I'll call them later." he responded quietly.

"Once we visit Reid we'll head to the BAU to see what we can find out. Brian, I know your thought's are with Spencer, but it's possible you may have seen who attacked him. I would like Prentiss to do a cognitive interview with you when you are up to it." Hotch told Brian.

"We can do it when you're ready. It doesn't have to be today, but soon." Prentiss said.

"Yeah, that's fine. If it will help catch who did this to Spencer I'll do anything, but I need to see Spencer first." Brian responded.

Wolsky was feeling useless so he asked. "Can I get anyone more coffee. I'm feeling restless and I need to do something."

"I think we can all use more coffee. I'll go with you to the coffee shop." Will volunteered.

Garcia spoke and asked. "What if he doesn't wake up? What if he does wake up and he won't be able to walk for the ret of his life? What if he has brain damage? You know Reid, he would be devastated."

Brian just looked at her and was about to say something, but changed his mind. "Excuse me." he said and walked out.

Everyone looked at each other trying to figure out if they should go after him.

Hotch decided to follow him to make sure he was ok.

"You know it's okay to break down or feel helpless. I think we all feel that way right about now." Hotch told Brian as he walked behind him.

"I know. Do you ever feel like you don't know what emotion you should have at the moment. I feel angry, hurt, aggravated, frustrated, confused, vengeful, in denial and a bunch of other emotions. But right now the most powerful emotion I feel is anger. Anger at myself for leaving Spencer last night alone at the restaurant. If I didn't leave him he wouldn't be in a coma now. I feel angry at the SOB who put him in that coma. I feel angry that my Captain has refused to bring in outside help to catch this person. I feel angry because I have no control over what's going to happen and angry because I can't help him. And I feel scared. Scared for Spencer. You know how he is. When he wakes up he is going to need a lot of help. Spencer does not do well with handouts or any form of assistance that will make him seem week. I'm sure you know exactly how independent and stubborn Spencer is. He is not going to take this well. I've been on the receiving end of an angry Spencer and it is not pleasant. Not that I won't do anything in my power to help him. If there was a way to take his place at this moment I would do it, no question about it. I just feel helpless." Brian said.

"I know this is hard to process and you are feeling a range of emotions, but it's okay to feel that way. You won't be alone in caring for Spencer. You have to entire team behind you. Trust me, I'm well aware of Spencer's temper. He doesn't lose it that often, but when he does he can be a little scary. We keep telling him he should not suppress so much, that way we won't get the brunt when he decides to unleash all that pent up anger. Brian, I have no doubt in my mind that he will make it through this. We just have to be strong for him when he wakes up." Hotch said with conviction.

At that moment Wolsky walked up to them, handed them their coffee and said. "The nurse just came and told everyone they moved Spencer to the ICU, Room 213. You can go see him. The rest of your team are headed up to the room now. I'm going to head to the station to find out if the Captain made up his mind on calling the in FBI. I'll call you as soon as I hear anything."

"Thanks Stan for being here. I'll wait for your call." Brian said.

"Come on, let's go see Reid." Hotch said.

They rode the elevator to the second floor in silence. Both afraid of what they would see when they step into the hospital room. When the elevator doors opened, they spotted the team standing outside of Reid's room.

"What are you doing standing out here?" Hotch asked.

"The nurse is in there checking his vitals. We're waiting for her to come out." Morgan said.

After five minutes the nurse walked out and said. "You can go in now. Please don't be shocked by his appearance. His face is a little swollen from the surgery. I'm sure the Dr. Jackson informed you about the ventilator. He is as comfortable as we can make him. If you need anything or have any questions, I'll be at the nurse's station. You can either use the call button or come and get me. I'll be checking in on him every half hour to check his vitals. We also have a small kitchen at the end of the hall if you would like some coffee or a snack. We bring in our own coffee, so it's better than what they offer in the cafe downstairs. See you in half hour."

They all thanked her as she walked away.

Garcia was the first to walked in, followed by JJ and Will, then Emily followed by Rossi. Hotch was right behind Rossi. As Morgan was going to walk in the room he looked back and saw Brian standing there unable to move.

"Brian, man, are you coming in?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute." was his only response.

Morgan turned around to talk to him "Brian talk to me. What's the matter."

"I don't know if I can see him like that. Lying still with tubes connected to him, not saying a word. He always has something to say. If he was to see himself, he would sprout off some statistic about the progress of modern medicine. That's not Spencer. Spencer is not silent." Brian said looking Morgan in the eye.

"Listen, you have to hold it together. When we go in there and Reid can hear us talking, he's going to hear the distress in your voice then he's feel guilty. He doesn't need that." Morgan said.

"Do you really think he'll be able to hear us?" Brian asked him curiously.

"I don't know. I'm sure Reid told us what studies have said about people in coma's and I just didn't listen." Morgan said half laughing.

"I know. We'll just have to ask him when he wakes up." he said smiling.

"Come on, let's go see our boy." Morgan said putting his arm around Brian's shoulder and pulling him into the room.

There smiles dropped when they entered the room. There were no words to describe what they were seeing. Spencer was lying still on the hospital bed. He looked so pale. The only proof of life was the rise and fall of his chest with the aid of the ventilator and the beeping of the heart monitor. No one dared walk up to the bed afraid they may accidentally disconnect a wire. Brian made the first move and walked to right side of the bed and grabbed his hand.

He bent over and kissed him on the forehead and said. "Hey baby. It's Brian. Your team is here as well. We've been waiting for a while now. You know you gave us quite a scare when we couldn't find you. There are so many things I want to tell you, but I don't know where to start. I'm sure your friends want to talk to you as well, so I'll let them say hi."

Garcia came up to the bed in tears. "Hey Junior G-Man. Why do you always do this? You know you can't keep doing this to us. We all joke around about implanting a chip in you, but I think we should seriously consider that an option. I'm sure we can even convince Strauss to let us charge it to the BAU. Wait, maybe that's not a good idea. She may think you're her property. Wow, now there is a scary thought. Scratch that idea. Not about the chip, but about putting it on the company dime."

"Garcia, no one is putting a chip in Spencer." Hotch stepped next to her. Then he looked at Spencer and squeezed his hand. "Reid, you just concentrate on getting better and getting all your strength back. I promise you we will find who did this. Brian's partner and co-workers are speaking to his Captain as we speak so that we can get invited to investigate the case. You just rest up."

"Yeah Pretty Boy. Get some rest. When you wake up we have a lot to talk about. Don't you worry though, none of us are angry with you. We're happy for you for that matter. I'm with Hotch on this one. We will catch who did this. Even if we're not invited by the local PD, we'll still work it from the BAU." Morgan said.

Next up was JJ who took Garcia's spot. She bent down and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey Spence. What am I going to do with you? Henry is going to be so disappointed. He was looking forward to tomorrow. He wanted you to teach him more magic tricks. You made him a promise. So you wake up soon so you can keep that promise you hear me."

"You best listen to her. You know how she gets when she's determined." Will chimed in.

She bent down to give him another kiss on the cheek and whispered. "Get better soon. We need you in our lives."

"Kiddo, you know I am not a man of words, but I don't like your silence. You hurry up a wake up so that you can tell me all about the origins of Halloween." Rossi said joking.

"Reid, you still owe me a poker rematch. I still say you cheated on that last game we had. You probably used your slight of hand trick to hide that card which allowed you to have a full house. But don't worry I'll learn all your tricks eventually. No one is unbeatable." laughed Emily.

"Spencer told me you beat him once at poker. He's convinced you cheated. He jokes about it all the time. He said you distracted him by constantly talking to Morgan." Brian looked at her with a smile.

"I haven't been able to beat him again since then." she was still smiling.

They all fell silent again lost in their thoughts. They snapped out of it when Brian's phone rang. He excused himself when he told the team it was Detective Wolsky.

Morgan was the first to speak up. "I hope his Captain changed his mind and is ready to call us in."

"It's highly unlikely. I heard he is looking to be Chief of Police. He has his eye on being the Mayor some day. Although, he is so egotistical he may actually skip the Chief of Police position and run straight for Mayor." Rossi said with disgust.

"I really, really hate politics." Emily said equally disgusted.

Brian walked in and asked. "Can you guys give me a few minutes alone with Spencer. I'll explain what Stan said when I finish speaking with Spencer."

"Sure, no problem." Hotch said and ushered the rest of the team out of the room.

When they were gone Brian focused his attention to Spencer. "Hey Spencer, I wanted a moment alone with you to tell you I love you and to apologize as well. I have to go down to the station to talk to the Captain personally. You know I would not leave your side if I didn't feel it was necessary. He's being stubborn and refuses the help of your team. By the time I'm done with him, your team will be investigating this case. We have time to discuss what the doctor said, so I won't get into that now. I also wanted to tell you I love you and I need to see those beautiful brown eyes of yours. The doctor's have done everything they can, now it's up to you. You know I was going to ask you to marry me yesterday, so I need you to wake up to give me your answer. Don't wake up to soon that you don't allow yourself time to heal properly. I'll be here waiting for you until you're ready. I'm sure Garcia will stay with you until I get back. I love you and I'll see you later."

Once he walked out of the room the first person to speak up was Morgan. "Brian, what did Wolsky say."

Instead of answering Morgan he turned to Garcia and asked. "Penny, can you stay with Spencer until we get back. We need to go to the police station."

"Oh good. The Captain agreed to bringing in the BAU?" Garcia asked.

"No, but by the time I'm done having a word with him he will." the anger in his voice evident.

"Um, sure, I'll stay with him. Call me as soon as you have time to explain what's going on okay." she said.

He turned to the rest of the team. "We have to go to the police station. I'll explain on the way."

On route to the police station, Brian rode with Morgan and Hotch in one SUV, while Prentiss, Rossi, Will and JJ were in the other SUV.

He went on to explain. "The Captain refused assistance from an external source. Stan said Cummings got into a heated argument over the discussion, but he won't budge. Now that he knows there is a survivor, he's having the Press Liaison set up a press conference at the hospital scheduled for this evening's news. He plans on informing the public that there is serial killer on the loose targeting a specific group."

"What! Doesn't he realize that if Spencer's attacker hear's that he survived he me may try to finish the job. This Unsub doesn't leave any survivor's. He just painted a big bull's eye on Reid." Morgan said furiously.

"That's the idea. He going to use Spencer as bait to lure out his attacker. He's sending undercover officer's to the hospital to keep an eye on his room." Brian was so angry you could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Oh, God. We left Garcia alone with Reid. I know we still have time before the press conference, but now I'm not feeling comfortable with leaving her alone. We don't know who this guy is. It could be anyone." JJ said fearfully.

"You're right JJ. You guys head back to the hospital and keep watch." Hotch instructed JJ, Rossi and Prentiss. "What do you plan on doing Brian?"

"I'm going to use the one card I have that will guarantee you are on the case. I was trying not to go that route, but he leaves me no choice. No one is going to use Spencer as bait for their own political agenda." Brian said with conviction.

"Should we be scared. It's not anything illegal is it? Not that I would say anything if it was, but it would be nice to have a heads up." Morgan asked.

"Not at all. We're just going to have a little conversation, that's all. You guys may want to start planning how you're going to head this investigation. All I ask is that you agree to allow Stan and Will to be a part of the investigation and the arrest. We promise not to go rogue and we'll follow your direction." he said looking at Hotch.

"I can agree to that. I'll pull over so that Will can switch trucks." Hotch agreed while  
pulling over the side of the road.

When they arrived at the police station Brian told the team "Give me fifteen minutes. The case will be yours."

He walked away and went straight to the Captain's office.

"Captain Holmsby, can I have a word with you."


	7. Chapter 7

_"Captain Holmsby, can I have a word with you._"

"What do you need Morris. I have a press conference I need to start preparing for. I need you to give me a brief summary on how the investigation is going. Smith and Cummings told me the victim is an FBI Agent. I see they protect their own well." Captain Holmsby smugly told Brian.

"Captain, the FBI is here. They want to help with the investigation. I really think you should reconsider letting them take over the case." Brain said very calmly. He was going to try to reason with man one more time.

"Morris, we have a break in the case. As soon as this guy wakes up he'll be able to give us information on his attacker. Once we have that we'll be able to close the case in no time. And I can let the public know the DCPD has and always will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of the citizens of this city. The FBI is here because it was one of their own who was attacked. It certainly won't look good for their agency that one of their own was not more vigilant." Holmsby said.

"Sir, nine men are dead and we are no closer to catching this man. We don't have anything under control. All we know is that he attacks at different areas of the city and is able to evade the camera's. We don't know why he's attacking gay men in such a brutal manner. Spencer is lucky that he survived the attack." Brian was now losing his patience.

"Who's Spencer?" the Captain asked.

Brian was looking at him incredulously. "You're about to hold a press conference informing the public that there is someone killing gay men around the city and there's a survivor to the attack, but you don't even know the survivor's name. Well let me tell you about the survivor. His name is Dr. Spencer Reid. He's a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI. He's assigned to the Behavioral Analysis Unit which specializes in catching criminals such as the man attacking these men. He is not gay, but for the purpose of this investigation he is because I'm not getting into the meaning of pansexual with you and he's been my partner for the past two years. So now I'm telling you, I'm going to open that door, you are going to ask the FBI team standing out there with Wolsky and LaMontagne to look into these killings and you are going to play nice." Brian said giving him a hard stare.

Holmsby was shocked by Brian's confession, that he was momentarily at a loss for words. Once he gained his composure, he said. "Well Morris, I didn't know you swung that way. Who would have thought." He put his index finger on his lips thinking of what his next words were going to be. "So this is personal for you. That's interesting. We can actually use that. We can inform the public that this attack has hit close to home for one of our own. We are determined to bring this individual to justice..."

He was not able to finish what he was saying when Brian reached across the table, grabbed the collar of his suit jacket by both hands, slammed him on his desk and said close to his ear. "You didn't hear me. The FBI will be taking this case. I know about your political aspirations. What do you think your future constituents would think about their future Chief of Police or Mayor sneaking around with prostitutes, one of which I know is a man. Not to mention what your wife would do. She would take you for all you have. Your career and marriage would be over. So are you ready to be introduced to the FBI."

Captain Holmsby eyes went wide with fear, but as soon as the fear appeared it quickly disappeared. He pushed Brian's hands off him and stood up straightening his suit jacket before he finally spoke. "You really think you can threaten me Morris. I can have you thrown off the force for assaulting your superior. Not to mention the false allegations, your career in any police department would be over."

"I'm positive that Jewel, Domino, Anya, Stefania aka Steven and many other ladies would be more than happy to back me up in my so called allegations. From what I hear you could be a little rough. They don't say anything because you pay well for their silence, but they really don't like you and would be more than happy to take you down. I trust you will make the right decision." Brian said, then walked out to join Hotch and the remaining team, who were watching the entire interaction between him and Captain Holmsby from Brian's desk.

"What the hell was that Morris? You could lose your badge for attacking him." Wolsky said slightly upset.

"If I lose my badge, so be it. As long as we get the guy who's committing these murders, it will be worth it. I'm not too concerned though. Give him five minutes to think about what I just told him and he'll be out here requesting the BAU as if it was his idea." Brian said turning to face Hotch and Morgan.

"So, you think after your somewhat aggressive tactic he's going to request our help. He doesn't seem all to pleased at the moment." Hotch said and they all turned to look into the Captain's office. He was on the phone talking with someone and he looked quite upset.

"He's a chameleon. You guys are profiler's. If you look closely, you'll see how quickly he changes his colors. Someone who isn't observing him would not notice the change, but to a trained agent such as yourselves, you'll be able to pick it up. The first time Spencer saw him, he had him pegged. Spencer only heard him speak, but he said he has a narcissistic personality disorder and a god complex. He said a combination of the two in one person can sometimes be dangerous if they feel threatened. I just thought he was a prick, but Spencer has been teaching me on what to do, how to look for tells. He said it will make me a better detective and help with the solve rate." Brian told the group.

"So that's the reason your investigating skills have improved. You have your own personal tutor at home. Is this kid really that good?" Wolsky asked.

"Yes." They all said at the same time.

Just then the door to the Captain's office opened and he headed straight to the group. He went straight towards Hotch holding out his hand. "You must be the FBI. I'm Captain Holmsby. I am very sorry to hear about your colleague."

"Thank you. I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner and this is SSA Derek Morgan." was all Hotch said.

"Why don't we step into my office." he gestured for Hotch and Morgan to follow him leaving Brian, Stan, and Will. Once they congregated in his office he began. "Am I to understand that you know Detective Morris. I'll be honest with you, he is heading this investigation, but considering that his partner is currently in the hospital, I don't think he is at 100% mental capacity. He may compromise the investigation all together. My other detectives are all investigating other crimes, so I don't have the man power to hand the case over to another team. We are extremely appreciative of any assistance you can provide us. You can meet with Wolsky and Morris and they can let you know how far they have gotten in the investigation and then you can help them with any leads."

Hotch interrupted Captain Holmsby. "Sir, are you requesting our assistance in this investigation? If you are, then you will have to submit a requisition to our Media Liaison requesting our presence. I will be more than happy to have the form sent to you via email." he was asking the Captain while taking out his phone texting JJ to email the form.

He then continued speaking to the Captain. "Once we receive your request, we will officially be taking over the investigation. When we have gathered sufficient information, we'll provide your officers with a profile that will help in apprehending to Unsub. When the Unsub is identified, your department can make the arrest if that's your preference. You should be receiving the requisition any second now."

The Captain reached over to his keyboard, tapped on a few keys and looked on the screen. He tried to make it seem as is the form had not arrived, but Morgan and Hotch saw the twitch in his eye. The Captain was not aware that the profiler's were observing him to recognize his tells. They have had bad experiences in the past with police officers trying to sabotage investigations. Officer's tend to resent the fact that outside help was requested. Hotch and Morgan are pretty certain Captain Holmsby would like nothing more than to see the BAU fail and humiliate themselves.

"I'll let you know as soon as the form comes in." the Captain said.

"We'll wait." Hotch said.

"Of course. I understand you must be frantic about catching the person who attacked your team member. It's a shame these crimes are happening. Maybe they should be more discreet when in public." Holmsby made the error of saying.

"They who? Are you saying because of their sexual preference they should not show affection for each other in public. Are you saying maybe they deserved what happened to them." Morgan said with anger.

"No, of course that's not what I meant. I'm just saying if there's someone killing gay men, they should be more cautious." the Captain quickly retracted his statement and looked at his computer. "Ah, the form just came through. I'll fill it out now. Who should I send it to once completed. A supervisor perhaps. I would imagine your superior has to sign off on this request."

"I'll take the form. That's not how the BAU works. Requests come directly to us and we determine if you have a serial on your hands. Based on the current number of victims, I would say that you do have a serial murderer on the lose." Hotch went on to explain while Captain Holmsby was filling out the form.

"Yes, well here's the form. Will you be working from Quantico or are you going to set up here at the station. We only have a small office to offer you. I'm sure it won't be comfortable for you." the Captain handed the form to Hotch.

"We prefer to work out of the local office. It will be easier to get access to the information your detectives have gathered. We would also like to request for Detectives Morris, Wolsky and LaMontagne be a part of the interviews with family members. We have three other members who are back at the hospital with Dr. Reid. They will be paired with your detectives in conducting interviews of the victims partners and family members, as well as, conducting cognitive interviews if necessary." Hotch requested.

"I'll allow Wolsky and LaMontagne to assist you, but Morris is to personally involved now that his boyfriend is a victim. Also, seeing that he knows you that may be a conflict." the Captain said with disdain.

"With all due respect sir, but we met Detective Morris for the first time today. My understanding is that he previously asked you to consider contacting us, but you refused. While he is concerned about Spencer, he's been desperate for a break in the case for several months. His mind is not clouded by today's events. Or do you just have a problem with him because you found out he was gay." Morgan said wanting to reach out to pummel the man himself.

"That's enough Morgan." Hotch reprimanded Morgan, then turned to stare at the Captain without saying another word, waiting him out.

After a few seconds Holmsby finally said. "Fine, Detective Morris can help you, but if he steps out of line once, he's off the case. Understood?"

"Understood." Morgan and Hotch said at the same time.

"Well gentleman, I have several meetings to attend. Please ensure you keep me updated on the investigation. You may inform Morris, Wolsky and LaMontagne they will be working with you. Have a good day." he said dismissing them.

"One last thing, please make sure you cancel the press conference you have scheduled for this evening. We'll prepare something for the public tomorrow after we know what we're working with." Hotch told the Captain.

There it was, a brief moment of anger before he smiled and said. "Of course. I'll get on that right away."

Hotch and Morgan just stared at each other, then left the office and headed towards Brian's desk where the three Detectives were waiting.

"Well, what's the verdict gentlemen." Will asked in his New Orleans accent.

"He agreed to letting us investigate and you three will be working with us. We'll need a conference room or an office to set up. I'll call Rossi and JJ to meet us here. Brian you can head back to the hospital and visit with Spencer, but I also want you to sit with Prentiss for a cognitive interview. Wolsky can bring us all up to speed on what you have so far. It's getting late, so after we have an idea of what we're facing, we'll meet back here tomorrow at 8:00 AM. We'll start dividing interviews and revisit crime scenes." Hotch informed the team.

"I'll show you to a room we can work from. It's not very big, but hopefully we won't have to use it for long. Just let me know what you all are going to need." Wolsky said.

"Thanks. See you later Brian. Give us a call and let us know how Reid is doing. We'll probably stop by later to see him." Hotch was dismissing Brian.

"I will and thank you." Brian said before he left the station.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Penny. How is he doing? No change?" Brian asked as he walked up to the hospital bed. He leaned over and kissed Reid on the forehead.

"No, there hasn't been any change. The nurse came in and checked his vitals. Everything is still the same. I heard you were able to convince your Captain to let us take over the case. How did you manage that?" Garcia was curious.

"Wouldn't you like to know. That's a secret I'm going to keep. You know, plausible deniability and all. When this case is over, I'm sure my Captain will try to have my badge. I'm not sure if he'll try to do something to your team if he thinks you knew about my intentions. Where is Agent Prentiss? I'm supposed to do a cognitive interview with her. I would like to get that over with so I can spend the rest of the day with Spencer." Brian inquired.

"She went to go get us coffee. She should be back in a few minutes." Garcia responded.

He looked around the hospital room and saw three get well soon balloons, and two stuffed animals at the foot of the bed. "I see you already made a trip to the gift shop. I know he'll love these when he wakes up. I'll let you in on a little secret. Spencer has all the stuffed animals you ever gave him from all the times he was in the hospital. You wouldn't know when you come over to the apartment because he keeps them on a shelf in the back of the closet. He had me put up the shelves just for that purpose. Sometimes when he's feeling a little down, he goes in there to look at them. He says it's to remind him of the positive things in life. You are always a ray of sunshine. Bringing light even in the darkest places. You are like a mother, aunt, sister, and best friend all in one. You know he loves you so much."

She could not stop the tears from coming. She just reached out and hugged him crying uncontrollably. "Brian I'm scared. This isn't like the other times he's been hurt."

"I know. I'm afraid too." was all Brian could say.

"What if he doesn't make it?" she asked, still crying.

"Hey, none of that. We both know Spencer. He's going to wake up and tells us the statistics of someone surviving an attack like this. He has to many reasons to make it through this." he said releasing her from the hug.

"You're right. From now on nothing but positive thoughts." She said wiping away tears.

Just then Emily walked in. "Knock, knock. Here is coffee for you guys. Brian, I figured you would be here by now, so I bought you a large cup. How are you holding up?"

"I've been better. So you need to do a cognitive interview? I would rather get this done as quickly as possible if you don't mind. I want to spend time with Spencer." Brian told Emily.

"Yes, of course. I completely understand. I asked the nurse if there was a room we could use. She said we could use one of the consultation rooms. Whenever you are ready, we head there." she said understanding.

"Penny can you stay with Spencer for a bit more. When I'm done I want you to go home and get some sleep. If I know you, you probably didn't get much sleep last night because you were worried about not hearing from Spencer. You need to rest." Brian told Garcia.

"Sure, I can stay with him, but I'm not leaving his side." she said defiantly.

"Garcia, Brian is right. You need to get some rest so that you can be more alert to help Reid. We have the case now. We're going to need you." Emily told Garcia, hoping she would understand that Brian needs time alone with Spencer.

"Okay, I'll go home, but I'm not going to like it. Now go and do the interview. I'll be right here with my junior G-Man." she shooed them out of the hospital room.

"Okay, Brian. Try to relax." Emily started to instruct Brian.

"That's not going to be easy you know." Brian said.

"I know, but in order for this to work you need to try. Now close your eyes. Take slow deep breaths. Listen to my breathing pattern and follow it. Nice and slow. Now I want you to go back to the last night. You're sitting in the restaurant with Spencer, what is the atmosphere like?" Emily started the interview.

"It was your typical family oriented restaurant. Very friendly staff." Brian started to say.

"Okay. I want you to look around and tell me what you see. Tell me about the people." Emily continued.

"There are not a lot of people. There's a family of four. Husband, wife and two boys. They are reprimanding the boys for playing at the table. There's a young couple holding hands. They seem happy. Maybe they're celebrating something. There is also an older couple. They are not saying much. I see a single white female. All she's doing is reading a book while she eats. She's drinking red wine. There are three men sitting behind me. I saw them when we entered the restaurant. But I ouldn't see them after we were seated. I had my back to them." Brian went on to recall.

"Okay, that's good. Of all those people you saw, did anything stand out about them. Did they act suspicious in any way? Were they acting nervous, possibly on high alert, constantly looking around?" Emily asked.

"No. Everyone I saw seemed to be enjoying themselves. I can't tell you about the three men though. I had my back to them. Spencer was facing them. He didn't seem concerned about them. I'm sure he was paying attention at what they were doing, as well as everyone else. He's good at that." Brian said with a slight smile.

"Ok. What about when left the restaurant. Did you notice anything odd? Look around. You saw the rest of the diners. Did you give Spencer a kiss goodbye?" Emily asked.

"Yes, I did give him a kiss goodbye." He remembered.

"When you kissed him, did any of them see you? Did they look as if they did not approve or stared to long." she kept trying to prod him.

"I don't see anyone paying much attention to us, but when I was walking out the door, one of the three men was staring towards Spencer's direction. He looked upset. He didn't look at me. It's possible he was looking a Spencer. One of the other men was paying the bill." he said.

"That's good. Did you get a good look at them? Do you know if they followed you outside?" she asked.

"I don't think they followed me out. As I said, they were paying the bill when I left." he said.

"Can you describe them?" Emily asked.

"I can only see one man's face. He was white, short black hair, brown eyes. Not sure about his height since he was sitting, but he was medium built. That's all I remember. I didn't notice anything or anyone outside. There was no one outside. Not many cars in the street. I saw Spencer's car and a few other cars, but nothing that would draw my attention. That's all I can remember before driving away." he said opening his signifying he had nothing else to add.

Emily said. "You did well Brian. Let me ask you a few more questions. Do you think it's possible that these attacks are being done by more than one person?"

"Stan and I were looking at that angle. With the level to brutality in these attacks we didn't think it could be done by one person. Some of the victims were pretty strong. They would have put up a fight, but there were no defensive wounds on any of the victims." Brian told Emily.

"Okay. That's it for now. I'll let you get back to Reid. I know you want time alone with him, so I'll call the team and tell them not to come. I'll warn you though, JJ and Morgan are not going to go home. They will not go the night not being able to see him." Emily warned.

"I understand. You don't have to tell them not to come. You are all important to Spencer and he would be very upset with me if I kept you guys away. I just need some private time with him. You know, Spencer talks about you. He still feels guilty about the way he treated you when he was going through his addiction. He said he will never forgive himself for that and he is very ashamed." he told Emily.

"I forgave him a long time ago. I understood it was not him, but the addiction talking. He just needs to wake up so that I could tell him to stop with the guilt. It's not necessary." she said.

He reached out and grabbed her hand. "He told me you're a nerd just like him, but you pull it off with style. You're not afraid to call him on his faults, and for that he's grateful. He said many times he needed some sense knocked into him and he was happy that you are the one to always do that. You keep him grounded when he thinks he may be losing control on the job. You all do, but you more so than the others. He appreciates the fact that you don't treat him like a kid. He said you don't show your emotions, but he knows that you have a huge heart and are one of the strongest women he knows. You handle things in your own way, but he knows you love him. It's okay to show emotions. It doesn't make you weak."

"I know. I'm trying to hold it together. This team has a way of drawing people in. I'm the newest member, except maybe Rossi in a sense, but Reid never tested me in my knowledge or why I was assigned to the BAU. He just welcomed me as if to say he won't judge or jump to any conclusions. He has first hand experience in that field and he won't do it to anyone else unless it's absolutely necessary." she said wiping a tear away.

"Come on. Let me relieve Garcia and you can take her home. If we let her, she'll set up a cot in his room and never leave. She needs to get some rest." Brian put his arm around her shoulder and navigated her towards the door.

As they were walking to Reid's room Emily said. "Thank you. Not only for the talk, but also for being there for Reid. I've always worried about him and not having anyone. It's evident you love him very much and it's great. I look forward to getting to know you better."

When they walked into the room, Garcia was reading Reid a book. Brian asked her. "What are you reading him?"

"The Canterbury Tales. I'm sure he's read it already, but no one appreciates a good story better than Reid. Were you able to remember anything that can help find who did this?" Garcia asked.

Emily answered. "Maybe. I want to see if the restaurant has any camera's. If they do, hopefully we'll see if anyone stands out or was displaying suspicious behavior. I'm going to need your help going through the footage. In the meantime, let's get you home."

"Okay. You call me if anything changes and try to get some rest as well. He doesn't need you dropping from exhaustion. Who's going to stay with Reid while we're working? I don't think he should be left alone." Garcia asked.

"I called my sister Melony. She'll be here in the morning to stay with him. She said she's going to take some time off. She's a Registered Nurse, so she'll be able to react quickly if anything happens. Don't worry, he'll be in good hands." Brian responded.

"Well, we'll be going now. Remember, call me. I'll see you tomorrow and love ya." she gave him a hug and kiss him on the cheek goodbye.

"See you tomorrow at the station Brian. Try to get some rest." Emily squeezed his shoulder before leaving.

Finally alone, he turns and runs his fingers through Spencer hair. "Hey babe. We're finally alone. I'm going to try my best not to fall apart, but seeing you here, lying motionless is making it very difficult. I need you here with me, talking to me, telling me everything is going to be all right. Remember when I told how was in middle school, that scared little kid who would try to hide from the world. That's how I'm feeling right now, like that scared and now helpless little kid. So you have to give me a sign, anything that will tell me your going to be ok."

He sat there staring at Spencer, lost in thought. He remembered after their six month anniversary, they went to Las Vegas to meet Spencer's mother. It was probably one of the few occasions he had been scared. He knew Spencer was really close to his mother and her approval was imperative. Fortunately, she accepted him after she threatened to gouge his eyes out if he hurt Spencer. That was the first hurdle they had to overcome. The next would be meeting Brian's partner from work. Again, he got lucky. Stan Wolsky did not care about his sexual orientation, shocked yes, but happy for him nonetheless. Spencer received a somewhat similar threat, but Stan's threat involved a bullet. Spencer just told him he would expect nothing less and he understood where the protectiveness came from.

The next person to tell about their relationship was Brian's mother. Brian's father had died soon after he graduated from middle school and he had to be honest, there was no love lost there. He was a very abusive man. After his father passed away, he finally felt like he could breath and he stopped being that frightened little boy. They both understood what it was like to be disappointed in their father's, although Spencer said he got off lucky. All his father did was walk out on him. He had enough with being bullied at school, he would not have been able to handle coming home to abuse as well.

Brian's mother was not as accepting about the relationship as Spencer's mother. She yelled and prayed for an entire day, constantly saying it was a mistake and he was just confused. He blames Spencer for his so called confusion. When he goes to visit his family, Spencer is not allowed to accompany him. He wasn't even allowed to take him to the family reunion they had a few months back. Brian was all set on not going to the reunion, but Spencer would not allow him to miss out on seeing some family members he had not seen for several years.

Melony, Brian's sister was cautious at first. She asked a lot of questions making sure Spencer's intentions were pure of heart. She eventually accepted him and gave them her blessing. They are actually pretty close and often spend time going to museums when they both have free time.

The final hurdle in their relationship and joining their families was the BAU team. Brian, of course was afraid they would not accept him. So far they seem to have no problems with him, but he is well aware that this was an extreme situation and they may just be putting their feelings aside to catch Spencer's attacker. He was sure they have a lot of questions and more threats for him. He knows the biggest obstacle was going to be Morgan. He was willing to wait as long as it took for them to accept him. It was important to Spencer, therefore, important to him.

He reached into his pocket and took out a 14k white gold ring with four 1/2 ct tw diamonds embedded in the band. He took Spencer's hand and slipped the ring on his finger. "Spencer, feel this. It's your engagement ring. I know you can't wear it here, but I want you to know I'm serious about marrying you. Maybe by feeling this ring on your finger, you'll have an incentive to wake up and come back to me. We can have a big commitment ceremony or a small one. I'll leave it up to you. Although, knowing you and how much you hate being on the spotlight, you are going to opt for small. I like your team. They seem like good people, but I already knew that from the way you talk about them. You were right, Morgan is the most protective of you, but the others are not far behind. I was finally able to convince the Captain to request the BAU to investigate these attacks. Unfortunately, the method I used was not my finest moment, and you may be disappointed in me, but I won't apologize for it. I did what I had to do with no one getting hurt. Well maybe Captain Holmsby's ego was hurt, but who gives a shit. I can't have any more men getting killed. I'll keep reading to you. Mel is coming tomorrow to keep watch over you. I love you babe."

He picked up the book and continued reading where Garcia left off.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, Brian." Melony, Brian's younger sister whispered as she tapped Brian's arm softly so not to frighten him after she entered to hospital room. He was sleeping in a cot one the nurses set up for him.

"Hey Mel." he stood up to give her a hug. "Thank you so much for doing this for me. You don't know much I really appreciate it and I'm sure his team will as well."

"Don't give it a second thought. You know there's no other place I would be at a time like this. I've asked for two weeks off, so I can stay as long as you need me and if after two weeks you still need me, we'll figure something out, okay" she told him, squeezing his hand to show him she was there for him and would support him through this ordeal. "How was he throughout the night? Has there been any change or movement?"

"No, there hasn't been any change. The nurse comes and checks his vitals, but there has been no change. She did say his vitals are good, which I guess is a good thing, right." he said while reaching out to rub Reid's fingers with his thumb.

"Yes, it's a good thing his vitals are good, but we want them to be strong, that way we know he's fighting to get better. I'll see if the nurse will give me any additional information that she may not want to divulge to you. But you have to remember this is not the hospital I work at, so they may not be willing to share with me." she advised so that he wouldn't get his hopes up to quickly. She was looking a Reid. "My God, look at him. How could someone do this him or to anyone for that matter. This is just evil and hateful. Do you have any idea of who did it?"

"No, not yet, but my Captain finally gave in and invited Spencer's team to investigate these attacks. Hopefully with the FBI now involved, we'll be able to catch this person or persons committing these attacks. I have to meet them at the station to start working on how we'll proceed on the investigation." Brian said with a slight smile.

"He finally agreed? What made him change his mind? Do you think he was finally able to admit defeat and admit that you guys needed this type of help?" She asked Brian, but did not turn around to face him when she asked him. She was taking in all of Reid's injuries.

"It doesn't really matter what made him change his mind, I'm just glad he did." He told her not wanting to get into how he had threatened his Captain. He, however, told her only what he felt was acceptable. "I did tell him last night that I was in a relationship with Spencer."

She gasped. "What! Are you serious? How did he take the news? I've met your Captain a couple of times and he seems arrogant and not a very open minded person."

"Well, your right about that. He was not very happy with me, but at this point I really don't care. Whatever he decides to do to me after this case is over, I'll deal with it then. For now I need to concentrate on finding who did this and when Spencer wakes up, I need to concentrate on helping him get better." he said with some conviction.

She was giving him a questioning look. "What do you mean 'whatever he decides to do to you'? You think he'll try to fire you because you're gay. He can't do that. That's discrimination and it's against the Equal Employment Opportunity Act."

"Mel, let's not worry about that now. I have to get to the station to meet with Spencer's team at eight this morning. I want to go home first to shower and pick up a few more of Spencer's books to read to him and maybe even some of the music CD's he likes. I'm hoping the staff here will let me play it for him." he was reaching for his jacket to get ready to leave.

"So you finally met his team? How did that go?" she asked.

"All right, I guess. Penelope was a great help in making sure their reaction was controlled and they really haven't given me a hard time, but I think it's only because of the situation. They are all really upset and want to find who did this just as badly as I do. We'll find out after we catch the individual or individuals how they really feel about Spencer being in a relationship with a man and how they feel about me. Right now they seem okay with it. They've been cordial and friendly and comforting, and it didn't feel forced. The only one I'm worried about is Morgan. He's being a little apprehensive, but I think that's mainly because of his close relationship with Spencer. We'll just have to wait and see. I really have to go. I'll give you a call later and you call me if there is any change before I have a chance to call you, ok." he gave her a hug getting ready to leave.

She hugged him back and told him. "I'll make sure to call you if there's any change. You be careful out there. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll talk to you later." he kissed her on the cheek and then walked over to Spencer and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "I love you, Spencer. I'll be back tonight with some more books and music. You just keep resting so you can get better."

Once Brian left the room, Mel took the seat next to the bed and started speaking to Spencer. "Hey, Spencer. I don't even know what to say to you. This is what I do for a living and for some reason words are eluding me. I know Brian is trying to be strong and hold it together. That's my assumption based on the few minutes I just spent with him, but I can tell he's tired and consumed with grief. You've definitely become a major part of his life. Before he met you he was lonely and he always seemed sad. He threw himself into his work. I guess it was his way of not having to go home to an empty apartment. I don't know if he ever told you, but I was always trying to set him up on dates with my friends and co-workers. Most of the time he would say no, but the few times he did it didn't work out. My friends of course adored him, but he just was not interested. It was obvious after he introduced you to us. I'll admit I was a little disappointed at first and couldn't understand what went wrong with him, but then I saw how happy he was and it didn't matter. When you love someone, it should not matter who he or she loves.

Brian taught me that and you taught me that. You two are so different, yet you are the perfect fit. I'm going to let you in on a little secret, I'm a little envious of your relationship. One day I hope I find what you and he have. He loves you and if that love is taken away from him, I don't think he'll make it Spencer. You have to pull through this. However you come out of this he won't care, so don't you be scared to wake up. Wake up so you can see the man you love and he can see the man he can't live without. And if you wake up, I promise to work hard on bringing my mother around to see that what Brian and you have is real. I know how important it is for you to get my mothers approval because you see how much her unwillingness to accept your relationship is upsetting him. Do we have a deal? You wake up and I'll make sure my mother comes around." she finalized her speech before she got up to go find the nurse. She looked back one more time silently praying that he heard her words.

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**I apologize for the short chapter. The next few chapters will have Brian and the team going over all the information collected and trying to identify the unsubs.**


End file.
